Manchester United’s Europa League campaign continues on Thursday, as we host Omonia Nicosia at Old Trafford.
Last week’s 3-2 win in Cyprus helped consolidate second place in Group E and we can take a big stride towards knockout-stage qualification by completing a double over Neil Lennon’s side when they visit the Theatre of Dreams for the first time.
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Erik ten Hag is awaiting an update on the fitness of Anthony Martial, who departed the 2-1 victory over Everton after 29 minutes due to a back problem. It’s another frustrating setback for the Frenchman this term, with our no.9 having been restricted to just four appearances so far due to injury.
Raphael Varane returned from his foot issue in the latter stages at Goodison Park, but Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire are yet to appear since the international break, while Donny van de Beek has been training individually at Carrington as he looks to get back into contention after a month on the sidelines.
United beat Everton on Sunday, with Antony and Cristiano Ronaldo helping turn the game on its head following Alex Iwobi’s fifth-minute opener.
Omonia traveled to the south of the island of Cyprus to take on AEL Limassol on Monday night. ‘The Queen’ had the chance to take the lead against the top-flight strugglers, but Bruno Felipe saw his penalty saved by Muriel Becker, brother of Liverpool keeper Alisson. Six minutes later, Jared Khasa struck the only goal of the game, winning the match for the home side.
Neil Lennon made two changes to his XI from Thursday’s game, with Fotis Papoulis and Loizos Loizou replacing Hector Yuste and Brandon Barker, as the Cypriots tweaked their formation. Goalkeeper Fabiano, who made several excellent saves last week, was substituted on 57 minutes after hurting his shoulder and Lennon said he assumed he would be out for the Old Trafford trip.
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Real Sociedad have three wins from three so far and the Basque outfit will guarantee progress if they take a point from the clash with Sheriff Tiraspol at the Reale Arena. United can’t confirm qualification yet, regardless of results, but a victory would mean we’d only need to draw with Sheriff in M16 on matchday five to ensure Europa League football after Christmas.
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